He may be on the other side of the Atlantic but Aberdeen chairman Dave Cormack will be under no illusions about the mood among the Dons support following a dismal January transfer window.
The Red Army have every justification in feeling they have been let down after seeing their club shoot itself in the foot in the last 31 days.
That is why the Dons chairman, as the man presiding over this revamped football operation, needs to explain himself.
There are questions – and he is the best placed to provide the answers.
Cormack is rarely shy in offering an explanation; just look at the number of times the word transparency has been mentioned since he succeeded Stewart Milne at the head of the Pittodrie boardroom.
He was quick on social media earlier in the month to shoot down speculation about Teddy Jenks’ loan being cut short and also told fans to remain calm following the arrival of Dante Polvara, insisting the window had only just opened.
Welcome Dante! Credit to Bobby Clark (put 50 US players pro) who paved the way. Dante chose AFC over Bundesliga. Why? Believes in pathway e.g. Calvin/Jack/Connor. Now a key selling point for us. Like these boys he's part of our emerging talent budget. Window just open… breathe! https://t.co/ag5xAx5XJS
— Dave Cormack (@CormackDavie) January 9, 2022
Breathe was the word he used. Right now some fans will be hyperventilating.
A 539-word statement was released to offer an explanation of the recruitment and sale of Ronald Hernandez, whose Aberdeen first-team career consisted of 220 minutes on the field, when he departed the club for Atlanta United two weeks ago.
If that much was needed in defence of one signing, then goodness knows how many words are needed to explain all this.
Why allow the squad to be weakened?
Christian Ramirez has been a successful addition to the Aberdeen forward line, but, contrary to popular belief, the American is not Superman.
He needs help, whether it is a partner in attack or better quality of supply.
Surely we can all agree on that point, which begs the question: Why, with Marley Watkins injured, did the Dons let Ryan Hedges, Niall McGinn and Austin Samuels leave and replace them with one player in Vicente Besuijen?
The Colombian-born Dutch youth international is an intriguing arrival and we will see soon enough where he fits into the big picture at Pittodrie.
Ramirez will not be alone in hoping he makes an instant impression.
But for Aberdeen to put all their eggs in an untested 20-year-old basket is an almighty risk.
McGinn and Samuels were bit-part players in the first half of the season, but to go into the second half with less options is farcical.
Which brings us to the second, but arguably most important issue.
What has gone wrong with the recruitment process?
It is our understanding manager Stephen Glass is but one member of the recruitment team at Pittodrie, with director of football Steven Gunn and head of recruitment Darren Mowbray also heavily involved.
Quite rightly, former Dons goalkeeper Bobby Clark was hailed for his role in bringing Polvara to the club three weeks ago.
But it is not exactly a ringing endorsement of the recruitment team that two of the three arrivals have come from contacts.
Clark played a key role in landing Polvara and in all likelihood player-coach Scott Brown’s ties to Celtic helped secure the deadline day loan signing of Adam Montgomery.
Glass’ hope for the new faces to be in place in time to face Rangers never came to pass either.
For all the chairman’s strong words in defence of his manager last October, actions speak harder than words and January has been a less than stellar show of support.
What lessons will be learned?
It’s a new regime and there can be teething issues of course – but lessons have to be learned from a wretched month overall.
Actually, they should have been learned last year when Sam Cosgrove was sold and replaced by three loan strikers who were short of match fitness in Fraser Hornby, Florian Kamberi and Callum Hendry.
That decision led to Derek McInnes leaving in March instead of May.
In terms of the big picture, some sort of rationale as to how the events of January tie-in to the club’s ambition of becoming a Uefa top 100 club would be helpful, too.
That lofty ambition looks further away today than it was in July, that’s for sure.
We could be wrong, but we don’t think we’re confused.
